Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, United States

Established in the wake of congressional investigations regarding
activities of United States intelligence services in the 1970s, the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) is, along with the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, the principal means by which Congress
oversees the intelligence community. In addition to reviewing, studying,
and reporting on intelligence activities and programs, the SSCI is
responsible for submitting to the Senate appropriate proposals for
legislation.

The SSCI was created by Senate Resolution 400 in 1976, the same year that
the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect
to Intelligence Activities, chaired by Frank Church (D-ID), completed its
investigations of U.S. intelligence activities. Whereas the relationship
of the Church Committee to the intelligence community was largely
adversarial, the SSCI has developed as an entity that, while maintaining
scrutiny of intelligence activities, also makes recommendations to
increase the effectiveness of U.S. intelligence.

Each year, the SSCI undertakes a review of the intelligence budget
submitted by the president, and prepares legislation authorizing
appropriations for civilian and military agencies within the intelligence
community. The SSCI also makes recommendations to the Senate Armed
Services Committee regarding authorizations for intelligence activities of
the military services.

During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, areas of focus
for the SSCI included modernization of the U.S. signals intelligence
system and improving the implementation of intelligence obtained from
satellites and other collection platforms. Particular areas of concern
under the administration of President William J. Clinton included
satellite and missile technology transfers to the People's Republic
of China and Chinese efforts to influence U.S. policy.

█ FURTHER READING:

BOOKS:

Legislative Oversight of Intelligence Activities: The U.S. Experience: A
Report.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1994.